The Judicial Council of California
has selected Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley and retired
Placer Superior Court Judge Richard Couzens to receive its 2008 Jurist of the
Year award.

The council voted Friday
at its meeting in San Francisco to bestow the award on Wesley and Couzens for
their work leading a team of judges to help ease a heavy backlog of criminal
cases in the Riverside Superior Court.

According to the
Administrative Office of the Courts, the award is given to “honor…members of
the judiciary for their extraordinary dedication to the highest principles of
the administration of justice statewide.”

Chief Justice Ron George
appointed the pair in June of last year as co-leaders of a “strike force” of 27
judges charged with addressing the backlog, which developed after the area’s
rapidly growing population resulted in a substantial growth in cases.

Before concluding their
work in June of this year, the strike force heard some 205 trials, clearing 125
long-pending cases, and sat on 289 preliminary hearings.

George said that the
judges had been selected for the honor because they had engaged in the “highest
form of personal sacrifice” by absenting themselves from their homes and
families to help the Riverside community with the crisis. He remarked that it
was commendable when jurists serve their own community, but said that it was
“particularly notable” when judges undertake such sacrifice to help other
communities.

The Chief Justice also
rejected speculation that he had engineered the award in order to make himself
look good for having appointed the strike force, commenting that he only became
aware of the nominations after council staff and the council’s three committees
reviewed the nominations and forwarded their recommendations to the full
council.

Wesley, 61, is currently
acting supervising judge of the criminal courts, a position he has held since
July when Judge Steven Van Sicklen stepped down to accept a bench position in
Torrance. He previously served as supervising judge from 2003-2007 after
serving two years as assistant supervising judge, and as acting supervising
judge briefly in 2001.

Admitted to the State
Bar in 1973, he served eight years in the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s
Office before entering private practice, later becoming a State Bar hearing
judge in 1993, and a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner in 1995.

Couzens, 63, retired in
2005 after serving almost 30 years on the bench in Placer County.

Wesley told the MetNews
that the year he spent with the strike force was a “real challenge,” but also a
“great honor,” and attributed the award “100 percent” to the work of the judges
with whom he served.

Praising his fellow
jurists on the strike force for giving up their time to assist the Riverside
court, often far from home, he said they were the “best group I ever worked
with,” and added that it was a “joy” to lead them with Couzens.

The award was one of
three Distinguished Service Awards on which the council voted Friday. The other
recipients were Butte Superior Court Executive Officer Sharol Strickland, who
received the Judicial Administration Award, and Kenneth W. Babcock, executive
director and general counsel of the Public Law Center in Santa Ana, who
received the Bernard E. Witkin Award.

The Judicial
Administration Award “honors individuals in judicial administration for
significant contributions to and leadership in their profession statewide,”
according to the AOC. George said Strickland was selected to receive the award
based court innovations she had implemented, as well as her service “with
distinction” on the council.

The Witkin Award, which
honors individuals outside the judiciary for their contributions to the courts,
was given to Babcock for his assistance with pro bono efforts and providing
legal services to the unrepresented, George said.

Recommending the award
recipients to the council during its Friday meeting, Court of Appeal Justice
Richard D. Huffman of the Fourth District’s Div. One also announced the
selection of Orange Superior Court Judge Francisco F. Firmat to receive the
Benjamin Aranda Access to Justice Award, which is presented by the council in
conjunction with the California Judges Association and the State Bar.

He also announced that
George had selected Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Steven V. Manley as the recipient
of the Chief Justice’s 2008 Award for Exemplary Court Service and Leadership.

George and
Administrative Director of the Courts William C. Vickrey are scheduled to
present the awards Oct. 14 at the Summit of Judicial Leaders in Monterey.